Angela's in the DWMA?
by LittleMissSophie
Summary: Angela, now old enough to attend DWMA, is starting off her first year with a smile. Will her friends, or even her own partner know of her true self? And what lurks in the shadows of Death City? Rated T for Gale's dirty mouth. xD
1. New Beginnings

"I can't wait! First day as a meister for the DWMA! Now I can see you everyday Mifune, instead of waiting till you come home! This is gonna be so much fuunnn!" Angela gushed, as she trotted up the steps towards the DWMA.

"Don't get too worked up Angela," Mifune warned the high spirited twelve year old, walking slowly behind her, "Remember, no one can know you're a witch, got that? Even though Lord Death allowed you here, it doesn't mean that people will accept you as a witch. And no zapping the teachers too!"

There had been an incident a couple of weeks after Angela came to Death City and the DWMA, that did result with her zapping a teacher using her magic.

_Angela was walking around the halls aimlessly, unaware that there was a person creeping behind her._

"_Gotcha little witch!" the person shouted, and proceeded to tickle Angela to death._

_Angela burst out laughing, and cried, "STOP IT! STOP IT!" though her tears._

_She put a hand on the person's arm, and said, "CamelonCamelonChamaChama!"_

_This sent a shockwave through the person's body, leaving them paralyzed._

_Angela got up from under the body, and surveyed it to see who her attacker was._

"_Mr. Sid!" she gasped in surprised._

"_If I was alive… I think that would've killed me," he coughed, lying on the ground in an awkward manner._

"_Mr. Sid! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Angela sniffled through her tears._

_At that moment, Mifune came to see what was going on._

"_Angela! What's wrong? Are you-" he stopped. "Angela, why did you zap Sid?"_

_Angela went immediately into Mifune's arms bawling her head off. _

"_I'm sorry Mifune!" she sniveled, "I didn't mean too! Mr. Sid caught me by surprise and started tickling me! It was self defense, honest!" _

_Sid got up, scratching his head worriedly. "It's true, I did jump her like she said. I was just looking for a little scare, not a zap. I won't tell Lord Death about this, just this once, but you know you can't be using magic like that. Only during the training lessons." He told her sternly._

_Angela nodded, and wiped away her tears. "Right!" she replied, with a big grin now on her face. _

"_Atta Girl! Now give big ol' Sid a big hug!"_

_Angela ran right into Sid's arms as he gave her a big bear hug._

"That was so long ago," Angela pouted, "How can you remember that far?"

Mifune smirked, "A warrior must remember everything, because even the smallest piece of information could be useful in combat."

"Yeah yeah," Angela dismissed, "Well, I'm going to go find a good weapon partner! It's the first day of a new school year Mifune, shouldn't you be in the teacher's lounge?"

"Yeah, I should." Mifune said distantly, "But are you okay by yourself?" he looked at her worriedly.

"Oh Mifune, you're such a worrier! I'll be fine!" Angela beamed at him, almost shining in confidence.

He chuckled, "Alright then. I'll see you when we get in class."

And with that, Angela ran towards the huge mob of Meisters and Weapons while Mifune walked away from the crowd towards a side door which proclaimed, "Keep Out! Special Members Only!"

* * *

_A/N: Hi! Yeah, this will be my first attempt at a story with a continuing plot! ^_^ I know in my profile I said I would never do one, but hey, I can contradict myself right? And yes, Angela's Weapon and her other friends will be OCs, but there won't be much involvement of the main meister/weapon pairs. [Maka/Soul, Tsubaki/Black*Star, and Kid/Liz/Patty] And I know I cut it short, but it's the beginning! Obviously there will be longer chapters~ So for now, Please Rate and review! :3_


	2. Meeting Aria

Angela ran excitedly through the crowd, wondering how she would meet her partner._ I better get a girl partner… if it's a boy, Mifune might kill him!_ She thought while looking around.

The more she looked around, the more she realized that everyone was already partnered. Angela almost felt weighted down as the realization began to sink in. _What if I can't find anyone? What if I'm the only meister without a weapon? Do they know I'm a witch, is that why they won't approach me? I'm using Soul Protect like Mifune and Lord Death have told me…_

But then, a loud voice interrupted her thoughts. "Angela! Angela!" Sid yelled, moving his way though the crowd of first years. "Angela Leon! Please come with me!"

She walked slowly though the crowd, unaware that everyone was parting to let her pass, unaware of the whispers of the crowd, [_Who is she? How'd she get in trouble so quick? I don't want to be _her_ weapon, that's for sure._] unaware of everything besides the fact that Sid had called her.

"Sid, what is it?" she asked worriedly.

Sid looked at her gravely and replied, "We're going to see Lord Death. Let's go."

Before she could react, Sid took Angela's wrist and dragged her to the Death Room while everyone watched.

While they were walking, Angela's head, which was bubbling with questions before, was now absolutely bursting with them. _Why are we going to the Death Room? Am I expelled? Is it because I don't have a partner? Maybe I'll just be training with Kim and Mifune for now on. _She sighed worriedly.

"Hm? What is it?" Sid asked.

"Sid, why are we going to the Death Room? What did I do wrong?" she asked quietly.

He hesitated before replying, "You didn't do anything wrong … When I was alive, I could handle women better. I think it'd better to hear it from Lord Death himself rather than me telling you."

"… alright then."

_Probably something bad… _she thought to herself dryly, _Sid's just sugar coating it._

They walked the rest of the way in an awkward silence.

When they got to the Death Room, Death came to greet them.

"Hiya! What brings you two here today?"

"Um, Lord Death? You told me to bring Angela here." Sid reminded him.

"Ah yes! Sorry, I was catching up with a good friend of mine."

At this, Lord Death gestured to the man sitting at the skull coffee table. He was wearing a lab coat, with a stitched grey shirt underneath. There was a large bolt at the side of his head, and he wore glasses. Finally, there seemed to be stitches on his cheek, which made Angela squeamish just thinking about how he'd got that cut.

"S-Stein!" Sid exclaimed, surprised. "Where were you these last five years? You disappeared without a trace."

"Oh, I've been out and about," Stein replied nonchalantly, "When the witch Cecilia was awakened, I was sent to South America to deal with her."

"So she's dead?" Sid asked doubtfully.

"Yes. Maka did quite a number on her." Stein replied, "I'll talk to you about _that_ later Lord Death. I have a class to teach."

And with that, Stein left without another word.

"Um, who was that?" Angela asked, still looking behind her.

"Stein is one of our teachers at the Academy. He's a three star meister, and one of the best meisters that the academy has ever trained. He's very strong, good enough to defeat a witch." Lord Death explained.

"So… if he's good enough to kill a fully developed witch, then he could kill me in a single blow…" she said, looking down.

"Don't worry! Stein won't kill you. You're under my protection, and don't forget, you're not effected by the sway of magic just yet. And we'll do everything we can to suppress that nature as long as possible." Lord Death reassured her.

"So say I'm taken over by this "sway of magic", will you guys kill me then?" Angela questioned Lord Death with a stern stare.

"Well if worse comes to worse… well that's enough about that. So Angela, why did you come here?"

"Lord Death, you called me here remember? That's why Sid brought me." She pointed over to Sid who was sitting down at the coffee table.

"Ah right. So Angela, since you are a witch, you can't partner up with just anyone. You need someone special to match your unique wavelength. And we've found the best choice for you."

She could feel the relief wash though her, they were getting a weapon for her, that's all. No expulsion, or anything serious. And they won't kill her too.

Angela looked around for her new partner, but no one was there other than Sid and Lord Death.

"Where is she?" she asked, still looking around for her new partner.

"Huh?" Lord Death looked around too, but there was no one in sight.

"I asked Spirit to get the girl for me, but he isn't here yet…" he sighed, "You can never trust anything with that man, I swear."

Angela giggled, as she knew Spirit, an idiot who was hopeless at everything he did, and even his own daughter didn't like him much. But he was still very funny, and was very nice too.

"Angela," Lord Death said in an unusually serious tone, "Your partner does not know that you are a witch. And you can't tell her, unless I tell you to. Alright?"

Angela nodded, and said, "Don't worry! I wouldn't want to scare off my weapon right?"

Suddenly, Spirit came running in, dragging a girl in tow. She was slightly taller than Angela, and her hair was dark grey and in pigtails. It trailed down to her mid thigh. Her eyes were a light blue, and looked very nervous, as she was looking down and fiddling with her hair. She was wearing a plain long sleeved black shirt, which was under a plain white shirt, black skinny jeans and black and white boots to match.

"This is the girl you were looking for, right Lord Death?" Spirit asked, looking at the girl and scratching his head, "Aria Summers?"

"Yes, yes, good job Spirit." Lord Death said hastily. "Alright, Angela, this is your new Weapon Partner, Aria Summers. Aria, this is Angela Leon. You will be partners, as your soul wavelengths are perfect for each other. So, say hello and get acquainted!"

"Hello! Nice to meet you Aria!" Angela smiled. Aria looked down nervously and muttered, "Nice to meet you too."

"We should go to class now! Mifune will be mad if we're late!" Angela giggled, ran off, dragging Aria with her.

And with that, Angela and Aria would be starting off their first year of school together.

* * *

_A/N: Oh gosh, sorry for the rough ending bit there, it was kinda hard to end it off XD So now Angela has a weapon partner! Ahhh you have no idea how long it took to pump out this chapter XD the main thing was trying to figure out how Aria was going to look, act like, how she and Angela would meet, ect. And deciding what she'd turn into, which will be explained in the next chapter. I was thinking of making Aria a boy… but I don't want shipping to be the main focus of the story. And the reason why I made Angela less happy in this chapter is because she's the type of person who's emotions are very easy to read, and can change easily. Like she can be sad by one thing for one minute, but then do something to try to make her happy, she'll be happy. And she's also smart too… but she's not… bad athletically, but def. weaker than the other meisters she's going to meet. Oh, if you're wondering, Stein won't play as much as a role in this, as Mifune technically subs over for him as the main mentor person for Angela, but you will see him in the future ^_^ Also, either the next chapter or the chapter after it will explain where Mifune was going... spooky stuff huh? :P Please, Rate and Review! X3 I can only make this better with feedback from you guys~_


	3. Speculations and Calculations

_Thump Thump Thump_.

Mifune could hear giggling come from the other end of the door. "Sooo, what's the password?"

He sighed. "Kim, you know it's me, I don't understand what the point of a password is."

"Yeaahhh~ but you still have to say the password!" Kim sang through the door. Clearly she had been pigging out on that sugar candy again.

"Reaper Chop." Mifune recited dully. He really hated when Kim was high on sugar.

"Right~! Come on in!" Kim opened the door, ushered him in and quickly closed the door behind her.

Mifune quickly scanned the members of the Spatori almost all of whom had already arrived.

"Where's Maka and Stein?" he asked, pulling a chair and sitting down.

"Maka's still in South America, dealing with rouges, and Stein… I honestly have no clue. He came this morning…" Spirit replied, scratching his head.

"Stein is currently chatting with my father about the current situation. He'll be back soon; we'll just fill him in when he comes." Kid replied. "Shall we start this meeting?"

"Alright. Ox and Harvar, what are your reports on the stabilization of Africa?" Yumi asked with a stern glance and a flash of her scary glasses.

"Everything is stable, and there seemed to be little to no influence of evil uprisings from Cecilia." Ox reported.

Yumi nodded and moved on.

"Kid, Liz, and Patti?"

"Everything's fine in Europe. However, we had to deal with a… very deranged clown in Naples, Italy."

"Deranged Clown?" Stein asked, walking into their little get-together.

"Yes, it was much like the other clown Maka and I fought for an extra-curricular assignment while we were still in the academy. It was talking about a new spread of madness and how evil will arise again soon." Kid said somberly, remembering the incident.

"Well, there are two possibilities." Stein said, thinking. "Either the clown whom you speak of is very slow to times, and could be talking about the Kishin, which was killed eight years ago. Or… a new villain entirely has appeared, but we don't know who or what it is yet."

"If we don't know what this thing is, how can we fight it?" Spirit asked.

"We can't, not until it reveals itself to us. For now, we should just take care of the situations at hand, and not worry about the word of a single minion. Also, did you get that Aria girl for Lord Death? He and Angela are waiting you know." Stein added.

Spirit's face went pale.

"OH NO! I FORGOT! I GOTTA GO GET HER!" he shouted while running out through the door.

"So Professor Stein," Jackie asked, "Could you tell us what you and Lord Death were talking about while you were gone?"

"Yes, I suppose so." He said, taking a long dreg of his cigarette. "Remember Eruka, the frog witch, and Free, the immortal werewolf?"

"Weren't they henchmen of Medusa?" Kim asked.

"Yes, and after Medusa's demise we tracked them down and imprisoned them here in the DWMA." Kid said. "Did they escape?"

"No, on the contrary, the both died last night." Stein replied. "Even Free, who was immortal,_died_. We don't know who or what could have killed them, but don't you think it's odd for class A prisoners to just die in their jail cells?"

"Does it even matter?" Black*Star asked, with an air of arrogance in his voice. "That's two bad guys down. We weren't even using them for anything; maybe they just died because they realized how big I've become."

"I doubt your ego killed them Black*Star." Kid said, irritated. "So, what does Dad think of this?"

"I'm not sure," Stein sighed, taking a drag from his cigarette. "Before he could respond, Sid and Angela had come. So I never got to see what he has to say on the subject."

"Do you think that it could be the evil being that the creepy clown was talking about?" Ox asked.

"If it is, we're in trouble, as it can kill an immortal." said Mifune dryly.

"What I don't get is the fact that whatever killed them could enter the DWMA, killed them, and then snuck out again without being noticed or caught." Ox said thoughtfully.

"There is the possibility that they could've escaped." Tsubaki added.

"No, they didn't escape. Both the doors and the dungeons were perfectly fine; damage wise, and there wasn't any bloodshed. We found Free's ashes in his cell, but there was a sign of struggle in Eruka's cell." Stein confirmed to them.

"What do you mean by 'sign of struggle'?" Black*Star asked loudly, trying to put the spotlight back on himself.

"Well, for one thing is that there were dead tadpoles on the ground. And the culprit left Eruka's soul in the cell. You'd think that _anyone_ would want a witch's soul, but the person left it there." Stein replied.

"Maybe it was just a threat." Havar said.

"Either way, it can't be good." said Liz anxiously.

"…Does someone know the time?" Mifune asked.

"It's 9:35." Kid replied, looking at his watch.

Stein and Mifune looked at each other.

"We're late for class." They said in unison. And with that, they both rushed out the door.

Elsewhere in the world, people were amazed to see a single bat fly through the midday sky.

* * *

_A/N: Messy ending is messy. Again. XD Gosh, endings are NOT my thing, are they? I don't want to make these chapters_ too_ long, because trust me, reading long chapters in secession makes you want to kill youself XD And I HAD to include the last line there, but I didn't know how to end it smoothly XD. If you're wondering why most of the Spartoi members only got like one line; it's because when I'm writing, I usually focus on a couple of people, even if the room is completely filled with other characters XD So I tried to give everyone at least some dialog, but Stein did end up doing most of the talking. By the way, Yumi and Marie were both there, but I kinda forgot about them x_x Ahhh! Sorry! And what will they do with Eruka's soul? I have no clue XD And who killed Free and Eruka? Everything will be revealed in due time~ Also: Check for updates at my profile ;) And Make sure Rate and Review! :D  
_

_**Hello, people of the universe! Or people who are reading this. I'm the new Beta Reader, and therefore I say hello and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**__ [Hi, this is the author. She's not new. Well... she's not new to this story. She's the one adding all the FREAKING AWESOME quirky little bits in the chapter. Also; she's the one helping me with plot points, and adding awesomeness in general XD Gosh, if you had seen my original ideas for this... You just don't want to. Just be happy with the stuff we got here folks.]  
_


	4. Enter Gale! A New Rival?

Angela and Aria ran halfway across the DWMA (or rather, Angela ran while dragging Aria along with her) in fear of being late for their first class. However despite the fact that they were late, they arrived to a class full of chattering students and no teacher to scold them.

"Uh, where's Mifune?" Angela asked out loud, surveying the classroom.

"Dunno. He's not here yet." A boy said simply. Upon realizing who she was, he smirked evilly, "So, why did you go see Death? We're all dying to know." At this, everyone turned to stare at the weapon and meister pair below them.

"W-well… we, we uh," Angela stuttered, nervous.

"We were just talking to Lord Death about our advanced lessons." Aria said quietly. The room went dead silent.

The boy looked shocked, but managed to recover his composure fairly quickly. "Advanced Lessons? Please, what you need is remedial lessons." he sneered.

Angela was fuming in fury. "You're just jealous that Aria and I are so ahead of everyone else." _That stupid prick, is rubbing off on me! I'll KILL him!_

"As if I'd ever be jealous of someone as lame as you!" the boy shot at her.

Angela ignored this comment in favour of imagining the many ways she could put Black*Star in pain, although if she ever seriously considered most of them, she'd have to go straight to Kim. It was then that she realized most of the class was staring at her, waiting for her response. Shoving her nerves down into some deep dark hole she hoped never to revisit, Angela narrowed her eyes, putting on a cool, 'ice-queen' demeanor. "So, where's YOUR Partner?" she demanded. "I don't see anyone sitting next to you there."

The boy looked beside him, and ran his fingers though his tufted brown hair. "Well, he's-"

"YAHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A loud yell interrupted them. Black*Star jumped into the classroom (_I can't believe he broke another roof!_), followed by a not-quite-so-enthusiastic Tsubaki.

"IT IS I, THE GREAT BLACK*STAR, HERE TO BE YOUR SPECIAL GUEST TODAY!" he shouted at the class. "Be ready to be amazed at mine and Tsubaki's skill! Don't feel bad because you can't measure up to my greatness! Perhaps one day you will-"

Black*Star fell on the ground in pain, for Angela had kicked him in the groin. Heat was radiating off her in waves. "You have to stop showing off like that…No one will listen to you if you keep on shouting. And now everyone knows that I know you…" Angela pulled Black*Star's face close to her own, holding him by the shirt, "if you embarrass me, I'll _kill_ you."

"_I'll_ kill _you_…" Black*Star choked in pain.

While Aria and Tsubaki were helping up Black*Star (and the latter prevented him from gorging Angela's eyes out), Mifune walked into the classroom. He looked over the situation briefly with an amused smirk on his face. "Alright everyone, settle down." Angela and Aria took two seats at the front of the class.

"Welcome to the Death Weapon Meister Academy, or the DWMA for short. I will be your teacher, please refer to me as Mifune. So today, we will be starting off with the basics: matching soul wavelengths. I am not a meister myself, so we have brought in a Meister and Weapon pair to demonstrate today."Mifune explained, gesturing to Tsubaki and Black*Star. Tsubaki just smiled and waved, but Black*Star grinned and spoke.

"Don't be surprised when you can't measure up to my awesome strength! I've beaten gods before, so it's okay, you don't have to feel bad."

At this, Angela rolled her eyes, but Mifune didn't say anything.

"In order to wield your weapon properly, you have to be able to match your soul wavelengths with each other." Tsubaki informed them. She turned to her meister. "Ready, Black*Star?"

Black*Star jumped up, ready to show off his skills. "Right! Tsubaki! Chain-Scythe mode!"

There was a flash of yellow light, and all the students gasped as Tsubaki turned into a chain scythe and landed in Black*Star's hands.

"The reason why Black*Star can wield Tsubaki so easily is because of the intimate relationship that they share. You cannot connect to your weapon properly if you're not emotionally connected as well." Mifune explained, while Black*Star was showing off with Tsubaki. "Eventually, you can unlock higher powers when you connect to your partner on a greater level. This is called Soul Reasonance. When these two are done-" he glared at the Meister Weapon beside him (specifically Black*Star, who was being a show off), "we will head outside so you can practice matching soul wavelengths, and wielding your weapons."

Black*Star smirked. "Okay Tsubaki, now for our big finale. Smoke ball mode, now!" Tsubaki switched into a smoke ball, and Black*Star quickly threw it down and disappeared. Everyone was staring in awe at the spot where they vanished. Everyone except Angela, of course, who had seen it all before.

"Alright, everyone, let's head out." Mifune gestured the class to follow him, as he walked out the door.

As they got ready to go, Angela tapped Aria on the shoulder.

"Aria, what sort of weapon do you turn into?"

She smiled softly. "You'll see."

"Awww! Why can't you tell me?" Angela pouted. Aria just stared at her, all packed up and ready to go. "Fine, surprises are better anyway. Come on, everyone's leaving without us!" Together, they hurried to meet up with the rest of the class.

"Alright, everyone, turn into your weapon forms now!" Mifune told them, after they settled down. Half the class flashed into different colored lights before turning into their respective weapons. Angela gaped at the vast variety of weapons. There were the usual but no less impressive axes, scythes, swords, and guns. And then there were the slightly stranger ones, like torches, boxing gloves, and crossbows. Having lived most of her life at the DWMA, Angela had seen her fair share of strange weapons. Since she spent so much time training with Kim, she had come to know Jacqueline too, as well as the rest of their team. All four weapons were unusual. She had also spent time with Black*Star (against her will) and Tsubaki (who made excellent cookies), and had therefore come to know them pretty well, although she wasn't quite as well acquainted with the rest of their team. Most of their weapons were what Angela would generally consider the less strange ones.

Angela blinked, realizing she had been lost in thought, and looked around for Aria. Instead, she found a silver-bladed katana (she was suddenly thankful for Mifune's absolute _insistence_ that she be able to fight with swords and learn their name because it would have been _disgraceful_ to just call Aria a sword) lying next to her. She picked her up and tried to swing her, but there was a huge crack and she flew back, dropping Aria in alarm.

"OW! What just happened?" she yelled out, as Aria clanged on the ground.

"…_That _is what happens when you and your partner do not match soul wavelengths properly. A there will be a reaction, like what just happened to Angela and Aria. It can range from a shock or burns to severe heaviness of the weapon to just about anything else. You must be in sync with your weapon in order to wield it properly. So, before you touch your weapon, make sure that you are completely calm, and spread your soul. Think of it as tentacles, like an octopus, try and reach out to make a connection to your weapon before fully raising it." Mifune explained. "_Now_ you may pick up your weapons."

Angela tried again, calming her nerves as she reached to pick up Aria once again. This time, there wasn't a shock, as she anticipated. Aria felt light in her hands, and as she slowly brought her up to a sizable level. Angela tried swinging Aria, slowly testing out her new weapon. The katanas Mifune had made her practice with were somewhat heavier, and it was slightly disorienting, although nothing she couldn't get used to. She glanced over to Mifune, who was talking to the rude boy from earlier.

"Well? What do I do? My weapon isn't here!" The boy shouted at Mifune. This, of course, made Angela's cold blood boil. That boy had no right to yell at _her_ Mifune.

"_You_, Gale Todd, will have to watch for today. If you need to, then you can come after school with your brother and practice with me." Mifune told him coldly.

"There's _no way _I'm coming here after school! You must be crazy to think that!" Gale said ruefully. "Me and Jaden can match Soul Wavelengths better than all these losers!"

"Besides Mifune, you promised that we could have family game night!" Angela cried. Maybe she wasn't four anymore, but she was _very_ sensitive when it came to Mifune.

Mifune quirked an eyebrow, but said no more and moved on to help someone else. Angela moved away, when the a voice stopped her.

"Hey!" Gale called out. "You! Yeah, the chick with the fancy sword." Angela turned around, and her eyes narrowed at the sight of him.

"Yes?" she asked, struggling to keep her cool.

"Look at you, feeling all high and mighty with your weapon. So what if you can wield your weapon? You got _shocked _earlier!" he scoffed, smiling cruelly.

"At least I have my weapon here!" Angela retorted. "What, is yours so scared that he wouldn't come to school today?"

"No, he's just sick!" he said, exasperated. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I'm a good enough meister to handle you _without _my weapon." He smirked.

"_Oh really now_? Is that a challenge?" Angela asked, gripping Aria tighter.

"Uh… Angela? I don't think this is a good idea…" Aria muttered.

"Yeah, listen to your weapon before I whoop your butt all the way to New Mexico!" Gale threatened.

"That's it! You're on my last nerves! Prepare to find out what it's like to be beaten up by a_ girl_!"

Angela lunged at him, but at the last second, he dodged it.

"Is that all you can do?" he smirked. Gale ran towards her, and tried to punch Angela. She managed to guard with Aria, but just barely. He was strong, and Mifune had only taught her the basics. On the rare occasion that he showed her how to do something with a real sword, they had never used a katana. And Gale (not that she would ever admit it) was _strong_.

"Do you really think that you could win this easily?" Angela asked, as she prepared to lunge again at Gale. However, she was stopped by Mifune walking up to them.

"Your form is off, Angela. You need to use two hands, or you won't be able to achieve maximum damage, and your opponent will easily defeat you."

Gale looked surprised and somewhat irked that Mifune had stopped their battle to correct Angela.

"Hey, what's the big idea? This is our battle, so stay out of it, why don't you!" Gale shouted rudely. Not a very wise move, as Mifune was his teacher, but Mifune simply stared down at him.

"Angela is my responsibility, and therefore it is my job to protect her wherever she is. Be that at school or fighting a kishin. This battle is over. If you would like, you may resume sometime when you both have your weapons and I am not trying to teach a class. Until then, I suggest you both get back to work."

Gale grumbled, but walked away. Aria changed out of her weapon form.

"I'm going to go get some water. Do either of you want?" She asked. Both Angela and Mifune shook their heads, so Aria went back inside alone.

"Angela, tonight Kim will be waiting for you here, to practice on your invisibility skills." Mifune said quietly, taking care to make sure no one else would hear them.

"What time?" Angela asked, every bit as quiet as her mentor.

"Six PM. And don't be late, you know how ticked off she gets…" Mifune said.

"Alright." Angela nodded. They stood together until Aria came jogging back, looking preoccupied.

"Is something wrong?" Angela asked.

"Huh? Oh, no everything is fine!" Aria said with a bright smile, which Angela returned without hesitation.

"So Aria! Weapons and Meisters usually live together, just as a basic rule. So, do you wanna move in with me and Mifune?"

"Eh? You _and _Mifune?" Aria asked.

"Yeah. Like I said before, Mifune is my guardian. So he lives with me!" Angela said.

"What happened with your parents then?" Aria asked, puzzled.

"Well, they… er…" Angela stuttered, unable to reply.

"Angela's parents were killed when the Star Clan raided their village one day. She was the only one left; so I took her in as my own child." Mifune said plainly, covering for Angela. How exactly do you tell your new Weapon that you're mother was a psycho freak who used and then killed your father before she was ultimately killed by the DWMA?

Aria nodded slowly. "I'm sorry for bringing it up…" she said quietly.

"N-no! It's alright, really! I can't even remember my parents at all!" Angela dismissed, waving her hands nervously. "Anyway, we should get to our next class. See ya Mifune!" Angela dragged Aria in the opposite direction, onward to their next class. Even if they _were_ going the wrong way.

Afterschool, Angela and Aria were walking slowly out of the DWMA, chatting aimlessly.

"-And then Black*Star crashed into the wall!" Angela finished her story. Aria giggled, smiling.

"Wow, it sounds like you always have fun around here…" She said quietly.

"Yup! It is fun around here!" Angela replied, "But… now everyone's away on super secret missions, and even Mifune is busy now with his teaching. So I don't really have much to do…"

"I see." Aria said thoughtfully, nodding.

"Aria, wanna play basketball? Whoever loses treats the winner out for ice cream!" Angela asked.

"Yeah… sure. But I'm not very good." Aria smiled

"That's okay, I'll teach you! Let's go!" Angela pulled Aria along until they reached the basketball court where Black*Star had taught her to play. She remembered the first time they had played he had been too cocky, and with Mifune's overall awesomeness, and her ball kicking abilities and broomstick, they had crushed Black*Star and Tsubaki.

So Angela spent the afternoon teaching her partner how to play basketball, and by the time they were done, they were both hot and sweaty, but please with what they had accomplished.

"Why don't we go get ice cream?" Angela asked. "I'm boiling!"

"I love Death Robbins ice cream." Aria smiled. "Especially their sundaes."

"Alright, we can go there then!" Angela nodded, "But… what's the time?"

Aria checked her watch. "Ummm… It's 5:55. Why?"

"Oh no! I'm sorry Aria, I have to go… um… get groceries for Dinner tonight. Mifune will kill me if I'm late." Angela explained weakly.

"Can I come with you? I love going grocery shopping." Aria asked excitedly.

"N-no! I just need to pick up a few things, so there's really no point. Besides, don't you need to pack up to move in tomorrow?" she asked hurriedly.

"I can do that latter it's really no-"

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Angela called, already a block away.

"Trouble…" Aria finished her sentence as her partner ran off.

'_Oh… I really hope Kim won't kill me because I'm late!'_ That was Angela's sole thought as she sprinted towards the DWMA. Unfortunately, it was not one that would help her later on.

Nor would it help ease Aria's mind as she lifted the note from her pocket. She wrinkled her nose at the strange black ink that smelled like blood, and stared again at the warning. She wasn't sure exactly what the writer had meant. She frowned, then tucked it back into her pocket for safekeeping. Angela was right. She had packing to do.

* * *

_A/N: Yay, new characters! XD Don't worry, if you're wondering, Gale won't be such a D-bag forever! Ahh but I made it more of a Gale and Angela chapter than an Aria and Angela chapter XD Which was my intention at first. Ahh this chapter is what, 2k of words? XD Oh gosh, it's so long! But it took FOREVER to type up, due to severe homework and severe writer's block XD Angela got ANGRYY in this chapter, eh? :P You can totally tell what's going to happen at their first mission together x3 By the way, all the new kids are considered "zero star" meisters at this point, and in order to become a 1 star meister they have to complete ten "training" missions and then a final exam. :3 So that'll be fun. Sorry for the wall of text [in word it's six pages!] for this chapter xD Just so much happens and there's a lot of talking. But regardless, I hope you enjoyed it! :3 And remember to Rate and Review! __**All updates for this story and future projects will be on my profile. So go check it out! X3**_

_**Something I should mention: I changed it from "deathbucks" to "death robbins" for the sake of the next chapter :3  
**_

_**Hi again… it's me, the Beta. I am epically sorry for the lateness, it won't happen again. This is what having to many projects can do to a girl… anyway, to make up for it, I give you a bonus scene!**_

* * *

Aria whistled as she walked to the water fountain. She was in a good mood. Then she heard a rustle. She turned to the left, where the sound had come from, but saw nothing. Then she heard it again, and whirled around, changing her arm into a blade. "Who's there?" She demanded. Silence was her only answer.

Looking around cautiously, Aria made her way over to the water fountain, turned her blade back into her arm, and took a drink. She finished, straightened up, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. There was a swooshing noise behind her, and she whirled around, arm back in blade form. But no one was there. On the ground, however, there was a piece of paper that hadn't been there a moment ago. Aria bent down and picked it up. It was written in black ink, and it smelled like blood. Aria sniffed it, just to be sure. It definitely smelled like blood. But it couldn't be blood, because blood was red, not black. Maybe the writer just had an opened wound or something. She scanned the note, then stiffened at its content.

**WATCH OUT. NOT EVERYTHING IS AS IT SEEMS.**


	5. Something Wicked This Way Comes!

_A/N: It's chapter five gaize. For realz. OMG, SO EXCITED. Happy Halloween! :D  
_

* * *

When Angela finally arrived to their training grounds, Kim was waiting for her, looking peeved.

"Where were you?" she asked irritably, "we were supposed to start 20 minutes ago! I swear… if Lord Death hadn't put me up to this…" at this, Kim ran off to a long rant about punctuality.

"You and your boyfriend have a fight?" Angela asked smugly.

"'Kim-chan, you're the only one for me!' he says, but when Maka comes all nice and dressed up, he immediately starts checking her out! What kind of boyfriend does that?" Kim fumed.

Angela knew that something bad would happen if she didn't calm Kim down; as her mentor was in a bad mood, and can make one heck of a mess when she got angry.

"Kim, it'll be alright! Ox was probably too blinded by your beauty that he had to look at someone less pretty as you! Obviously he chose to look at Maka because her beauty _pales_ compared to yours!" Angela cooed, hoping for the best. Mifune would kill them if he found out that all they did was listen to Kim rant.

"You think so?" Kim asked doubtfully.

"Of course," Angela replied happily, "Ox is serious when he commits himself to a girl, right?"

Kim smiled. "Yeah. Thanks." She straightened up, and had a familiar light of determination in her eyes. "Okay! Angela, let's play hide and go seek as a warm up!"

"We always play hide and seek! When will we do something different?" Angela whined, but Kim only smiled, and began to count. "One, two, three…" Angela concentrated hard, and felt an all too familiar feeling ooze down her body, and within an instant, Angela was completely invisible.

Next, she concentrated on moving as silently as she could; like the way Black*Star always taught her, and hid behind a tree. Angela could feel her senses heighten in the anticipation of being caught.

"Twenty Eight, Twenty Nine… Thirty!" Kim opened her eyes, and began to search. Angela almost collapsed trying to stay still that moment, but she managed to keep herself upright as she heard Kim's footsteps coming towards her.

"GOTCHA!" Kim yelled, grabbing Angela suddenly.

Angela shrieked loudly, and tried to release herself away from Kim's grasp.

"Jeeze Angela, can you be any louder?" Kim complained, dropping her student on the ground. "I ought to get paid for this…"

"Sorry," Angela said, dusting off her skirt. "How could you find me so quickly? You usually take _forever_ to find me!"

"You picked a sucky hiding spot," she replied, "Is there something wrong?"

"No!" Angela replied hastily, "Nothing at all!"

Kim eyed her suspiciously, but then waved it away.

"Alright, next. Take my hand and turn _me _invisible too."

Angela smirked, "Too easy." She quickly grabbed her mentor's hand, and let the magic run through her, making sure to let most of it seep through her left hand, and expand onto Kim.

"Nicely done." Kim commended her, looking down at her now invisible body, "Alright, let's move!" She ran quickly throughout the forest, turning this way and that. Angela could barely hold on, let alone keep up. She did her best to keep the magic intact, and made sure _not_ to trip on something like a branch. After what seemed like forever, Kim finally stopped, letting her student collapse and catch her breath.

"I thought Mifune was helping you with your endurance," she said, "Is he slacking or something? Because clearly you haven't been working hard enough."

"Mifune trains me fine!" Angela said stubbornly, "And it's not my fault I'm not as fast as light like _you_ are."

Kim rolled her eyes, but continued, "So you know how to make yourself and others invisible. Now, I'm going to teach you how to make illusions, in order to trick and confuse your opponent."

"Illusions? How does that relate to invisibility?" Angela asked, confused.

"It's the _opposite_ of invisibility; instead of disappearing from sight, you're making _others_ see things, force images into their heads while you can either stage another attack or plan while they're confused." Kim explained, "It's not an offensive move, but it's handy when you're in a tight situation."

"It sounds cool, but how do I plant images in _someone else's_ mind?"

"From what I've read, you're supposed to imagine what you want the person to see, and then force that image into the target's mind."

"'From what you've read'?" Angela repeated skeptically.

"Well, how else will I know how to teach you these things?" Kim replied sharply, "It's not _I_ have the ability to do all this stuff; I gotta research it for you!"

"Alright, Alright. Did you read up how I'm supposed to do this? Like, how to put these images in your head?"

"Yeah... Visualize what you want me to see, and push it out of your mind, almost like you're trying to telepathically communicate with me. Then I should be able to see what _you're_ seeing. Okay, imagine one object, and try to hold it there for as long as you can. You should start to feel weaker the longer you hold the image in place."

"Okay..." Angela closed her eyes, and imagined a simple apple against a white background, and tried to 'force' the image out of her head, and somehow put it into Kim's mind. To her astonishment, the apple vanished, leaving her in complete darkness. Angela struggled to keep herself in the darkness, but the harder she tried, the more it seemed to slip away from her. Finally, when she simply couldn't take it anymore, she opened her eyes, and collapsed to her knees.

"Wow, that was pretty- ANGELA!"

Angela's knees felt like jelly as Kim helped her stand. She had never felt so drained in her life.

"Are you okay?" Kim asked worriedly, "I never knew it was _that_ taxing on your magic..."

"I'm fine," Angela waved away weakly. After a few minutes, when she could stand on her own, she stepped in front of Kim, closing her eyes. "Let's try again."

"No." Kim protested, "You can't. We witches may have longer stamina than humans, but that doesn't mean we're invincible! We're leaving at that for today, _got it_?"

"Fine," she submitted, "Are we doing this tomorrow then?"

"No, I'm busy." Kim said immediately.

"What, are you gonna spend another night with _Ox_?" she smirked.

"N-no! Of course not! Jackie and I are having a girl's night, that's all." Kim lied, blushing.

"You totally are~" Angela cooed. "Alrightly, have fun with lover-boy tonight! I gotta get home, I have a big day tomorrow."

Before Kim could react, Angela sauntered away, leaving her mentor speechless.

When Angela got home, she immediately headed for the couch, and flopped on it.

"You look dead," Mifune noted, "How was training?"

"Hmmffff"

"Come on, get up." Mifune went over and flicked her on the forehead. Angela opened her eyes and glared at her guardian.

"Why'd you have to do that?" she complained, "I'm _tired_."

"You can't go to bed on an empty stomach, you know." he said simply, "I made lasagna tonight, and there's some leftover."

At this, Angela shot up immediately, fully alert and awake.

"I'm getting some!" she ran towards the kitchen, grabbing a fork and plate, and scooped some eagerly for herself.

"I'll be in my room if you need me," Mifune said, carrying a large wad of paper with him.

"Hey, what's that?" Angela asked through mouthfuls. She pointed at the paper stack that he was carrying.

"Marking and stuff." he replied.

"Ew, have fun." she waved him away, going back into her lasagna. Mifune smirked at her before heading out.

After taking seconds _and_ thirds, Angela plopped back onto the couch, feeling full and satisfied. She turned on the TV, and watched it until she fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Angela awoke with sunlight streaming onto her face.

"Uh…" Angela struggled to get up, and a blanket fell off of her.

"…What?"

"Hurry up, you're going to be late for school." Mifune said, popping some toast into the toaster.

"There's no school today," she said groggily, rubbing her eyes.

"It's Tuesday," Mifune said nonchalantly, "What were you doing last night anyway? You looked pretty tired…"

"I-I wasn't doing anything!" Angela shot up immediately, and ran into her room before Mifune could say anything else. She hurriedly put on her clothes, and spent almost an entire minute just straightening herself up. Finally, with one last tug on her collar, she bolted out of the room, took her books and left, swinging the door violently behind her.

Mifune watched the whole ordeal in amusement.

"She didn't even check the clock…" he smirked. The time was actually 7:30, which would make her… half an hour early.

When Angela arrived at school, she was shocked to see that no one was there.

"Man! Mifune tricked me again!" Angela huffed, plopping herself down at the entrance.

"Angela?" A voice called out to her, and to her surprise, Aria came walking up the steps.

"Whatcha doin' here Aria?" Angela asked her weapon, in full curiosity.

Aria smiled softly. "I could be asking you the same question, and it'll probably be more interesting than what my reasoning is."

"Mifune was just being mean!" Angela said crossly, "He tells me I'm late, and he starts questioning me! So I hurry up to get ready and leave, and when I come here, no one is here yet! And I dunno when class starts either! So I'm gonna be stuck here until the bell rings."

Aria bit her lip to keep from giggling, "Classes start at eight."

"Really? I swear they started at seven…" Angela said, trying to remember.

"No, that was before Death the Kid changed the time. I heard they got into a big fight about it, and he won."

"Kid did that?"

Although she had only met Kid a few times; he was universally known for his love of symmetry. However, she was surprised that he would dare argue against his _honourable father_ about it.

"Yes, I heard from… other people in the school about that."

"Other people?"

Aria's eyes widened in fear.

"So Angela! How do you like school so far?" she asked quickly, changing the subject.

"It's okay… I guess." Angela mumbled, "Would be better without that stupid Todd kid though…"

"I think Sid is a bit creepy, don't you think?" Aria urged.

"No, Sid's cool. He has to be, in order to deal with Black*Star all the time." Angela rolled her eyes, "I feel sorry for Tsubaki and Sid, but Black*Star is okay… most of the time."

"What's Tsubaki like?"

"She's really motherly, always looking out for me. Tsubaki's really nice, and can always defuse fights. And she's really good at cooking too!" Angela stopped. "Aria, is there something wrong? You seem kind of keyed up."

"N-no! Of course not! Why would I?"

But, right on cue, the bell rang.

"Well, we're gonna be late! Let's go!" Aria took Angela's hand and raced towards the school.

* * *

The rest of the day, at least in Angela's opinion, was weird. Wasn't Gale a meister, and not a weapon? Then how did he turn his hand into a knife? It didn't matter, really. She could figure that out later. Besides, she had more pressing matters at hand. Aria was acting... odd, to say the least.

"So I was thinking," she said, bouncing through the halls, "that maybe when I'm done packing, we could go to the movies! Or play another game of basketball! What do you think?"

Angela snapped back to reality, and quickly replied, "I'd love to go to the movies!"

"Oh, okay then! I was thinking maybe either Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows Part 1, or Maybe Tangled. Or we can try to sneak into the Black Swan." Aria giggled at the thought.

_There's something seriously wrong her_e…

"Aria." Angela stopped walking, and took her partner's arm. "There's something wrong. You're not acting like yourself. What happened last night?"

Aria stopped, and gazed at Angela. Her eyes widened in fear.

"N-nothing happened! I swear…" Aria dropped her gaze, and began running as fast as she could.

"No! Wait!" Angela ran after her partner, zigzagging through the hoards of people. She made a mental note to practice running drills more often; she _really_ couldn't keep up with her weapon partner, despite her already having the disadvantage of having to clear people out of the way, leaving Angela a straight line to go through. Eventually though, Angela found her outside resting by a tree. Suddenly, something clicked at the back of her brain, and it dawned to her.

_This is where me and Kim have our witch training…_

"Aria. Tell me what happened." Angela demanded, biting her lip down in an effort to keep her emotions in check. Aria was crouching by the tree, cowering; it was as if she was trying to make herself as small as possible… it brought tears to her eyes at the sole emotion that seemed to be coming from her partner. Fear.

_Was she bullied? Hurt? Frightened? I swear to Lord Death, if Gale dare try to hurt _my_ weapon, that boy will never see the light of day._

"Angela… can we not talk about it? Not now… anyway…" Aria's voice was soft, but too fragile, in Angela's opinion.

She sighed, "Alright. But we should hurry home… we have a lot of unpacking to do, right?" Angela grinned at her weapon, which she managed to return weakly.

"Yeah…"

"Okay! So where are we headed right now?"Angela asked, after helping Aria up.

"I need to get my bags from my house, and bring them to yours." Aria said, walking through the thick of the forest.

"Alright! But Aria… you're trying to get out of the forest right?" Angela asked.

"Yeah… why?"

"Well… you're going in the wrong direction."

"huh?" Aria looked around, and blushed. "Oh… then maybe you should lead then."

Angela smirked, "Follow me! We'll be out of here in no time."

So, one uneventful walk later, Angela and Aria emerged out of the forest, talking normally and animatedly, although the nagging curiosity was eating away at Angela from the back of her head was still present throughout.

"So…" Angela started fishing for topics. "Will I get to see your mom and dad?"

Aria thought for a second, before replying, "Yeah… I think so."

"Are they nice? Mean? They won't try to feed me gross stuff, will they?" Angela asked, hoping to get a chuckle out of her partner.

"No… they're perfectly normal people. Very kind."

Angela, slightly crestfallen with the answer, continued to prod, "Are they a Weapon&Meister pair? Did they go to the DWMA before?"

"No, as I said before; they're perfectly normal people. Neither of them have weapon blood, nor have they ever wielded a weapon before."

"So… They moved here because of you? Are they okay with you being a weapon?" Angela's mind instantly flashed to Soul, who had told her about his past. He had run away because his family didn't accept his choice to be a weapon… they didn't respect him. Now that she thought about it, a lot of kids were run aways or moved away from their parents in order to enroll at the Academy. And her? Well… she had Mifune, and that's all the family she needed.

"Yes, they're perfectly fine with my choice." Aria confirmed, dispelling any thoughts that otherwise roamed in Angela's head.

"So then…" _What happened last night that scared you so much?_ Angela bit back the question bubbling at her lips, while Aria looked at her questioningly.

"So then… why don't I ever see them around?" she finished lamely.

Aria looked at her strangely, "They run the local Death Robbins. Right in the middle of the string of restaurants. Julia and Robert Summers. How do you not know them?"

Angela's eyebrows knit together in confusion. Her and Mifune went to Death Robbins all the time! She supposed that she would never make the connection, nor have they ever asked for the shop owner's names.

"No, I don't usually go there," she lied swiftly, praying that Aria wouldn't be able to see the truth.

"Oh… well you should go. Mom and Dad always make the best ice cream!"

They continued to talk as Aria led Angela through unfamiliar neighbourhoods, twisting and turning seemingly at random; at times she was afraid that her weapon didn't exactly know where she was going… but Angela trusted her judgement. Eventually though, they reached a quaint little house, that seemed almost too cheery, with screaming yellow walls and neon greens. Granted, it _did_ look like the rest of the houses, as almost all of them were that bright, but the atmosphere that the house seemed to be emitting sent chills down Angela's spine. _No, it isn't scary_, she decided, _it's too… happy. Creepy happy. Creepy clown happy. _

"My mom wanted to keep the colours in order to 'fit in'," Aria explained, noticing Angela's reaction.

Angela nodded slowly, still not quite understanding. "So, should we head in?"

"Yes, yes we should, actually."

When they stepped into the house, Angela's jaw hit the floor.

_Much_ unlike the exterior of the house, the inside was much… _fancier_, and embellished. Mahogany, Crimson, and Gold seemed to be the main colours of the house, with regal paintings and intricately detailed furniture to match.

"I'll go get my luggage." Aria said quietly, and quickly departed for her room.

Angela just stood there, uncertain whether to stay or follow her partner. Before she could make a move, a blonde head popped out of a door, smiling.

"Ohh! You must be Angela!" the woman, who Angela assumed was Aria's mother, came out of the room to greet her.

"I'm Mrs. Summers, but you can just call me Julia." She smiled, showing her extremely white teeth. With her long blonde hair and her big blue eyes, Angela couldn't believe that _she _was her partner's _mother_.

"My little girl, all grown up and moving away!" Mrs. Summers sighed, "You know, when we first found out about her weapon blood, me and Rob were really startled. But eventually we got used to the idea… she can be really good for protection." At this, she chuckled, "You know, a burglar tried to rob us once; all sweet Aria had to do was turn her arm into a blade, and he instantly ran. She didn't even have to fight him! And then there was this other time…" As Aria's mom continued to prattle on and on, Angela's eyes couldn't help but occasionally flicker to the stairway, hoping that her weapon partner would soon be back.

* * *

Aria checked her things for the third time, sighing as she went though her stacks and stacks of nick-nacks that her mom had gotten her over the years, just to grab a book. Before moving to Death City, the Summers family had travelled _a lot_, as her parents used to be entrepreneurs. She smiled as she saw the cover; _Dragon Rider_ by Cornelia Funke, a book she had long since forgotten about, ever since she discovered other works by Cornelia, like _the Thief Lord_ and _Inkheart_. However, against her better judgement, she had decided to keep most of her library here, and only take Harry Potter and Dragon Rider with her. And the all the Nicolas Sparks books she owned, of course.

Aria's eyes flashed to her desk, checking to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. Then, her eyes widened as she saw it lying there. The Note. Gingerly, she picked it up, and put it in her small travel bag. She decided she wouldn't tell Angela; her meister didn't need any stress on her; as she knew that she would completely freak out about it. No, this was something that she would have to investigate alone. With one last glance at her bedroom, Aria carried her bags downstairs, ready to embrace the new world she was about to go in.

* * *

Angela sighed in relief as she saw Aria walking down the stairs. "… and she was the cutest little _thing_ as a baby… Oh hi sweetie! You all packed up and ready to go?"

Aria nodded, "Bye mom. See you… soon."

Mrs. Summers turned to Angela, "Well, it was nice meeting you. Remember, if you're ever in the neighbourhood, stop by, okay?"

"Yes, of course!" Angela chirped. _Urgh, I don't know how Aria can _deal_ with her!_

Aria's mom was about to say something else, but her daughter stopped her.

"Um mom? If we keep on talking, it'll be sunset by the time we actually get out of the house. So can we go now?"

She nodded, dumbfounded.

"But Aria, you should really keep your hair out like…"

Angela didn't hear the rest, for Aria had shut the already door behind her.

"Um... what time is it?" Angela asked, looking at the darkening sky above her.

"It's… 5:45, why?"

"Oh no! If we're not home soon, Mifune will kill us!" Angela said, frightened. She cringed as she remembered Mifune's various punishments, ranging from locking her up in her room, or serving her disgusting food on purpose (and force feeding it to her).

"And we can't run because of my bags…" Aria said quietly.

_Man! If only I could just levitate those bags of hers, or strap them to my broom, then we could get home in five minutes!_

"Can't your mom drive us Aria?" Angela asked.

"No… Dad has the car right now. So I guess we'll just have to walk."

Angela sighed, but reluctantly followed Aria through the same swirling path that they had walked beforehand.

By the time they reached Angela's apartment, [which included walking through some forestry and climbing up several flights of stairs] both of them were drenched in sweat, and Angela barely had enough strength to open the front door.

When they both walked in, Angela immediately dropped the luggage that she was carrying. "What do you _put_ in there? Cement blocks?" she complained. Aria smiled, and took the bags from her, bringing them to the living room. Just then, Angela noticed a note lying on the counter.

_Angela; and Aria, if you're there_, it said, _I'm going to be away for the rest of the night; I have a short mission to complete. If you're hungry, you can warm up some of the leftover lasagna from last night. **Don't go into my room, my extra swords are in there. **–Mifune_

"Mifune's _always _out now. Either that or he's busy _planning lessons._"Angela complained under her breath, "We _barely _have any time together now."

"Hmmm?" Aria asked, who already started unpacking.

"Nothing," she said quickly, blushing, "Mifune won't be here tonight, he's on a mission."

Aria nodded, and continued to unpack. After warming up two pieces of lasagna for the both of them, Angela came to join her.

"I'm pooped, can we unpack tomorrow?" Angela asked, flopping on the floor and handing a slice of Pizza to Aria.

"Well I already started," Aria replied, showing her meister the assorted items already on the ground, "And we can't just leave this stuff out, can we?"

"Guess not," she grumbled, "Alright, let's do this."

"You sure like books," Angela said sometime later, watching Aria carefully extract _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire _from her bag.

"No, this isn't much," she said, taking _The Order of the Phoenix_ out, "I only brought…fifteen books."

"_Fifteen books?_" Angela gasped, "You're just like Mifune! He has like a billion books in his room. I don't know why he even has them, it's not like he has time to_ read_ them."

Aria chuckled, "If you think fifteen is a lot, then you should see my room. I think my bookshelf is full to the bursting now."

"Have you _read_ them all?"

"Yeah… multiple times."

Angela just stared at her, awestruck.

"You must have a lot of time on your hands."

Aria smiled, "Yes, I did." Angela didn't notice the bitterness in her partner's voice.

While going through the rest of Aria's stuff, Angela found a picture frame sitting at the bottom of one of the bags. It was old; considering how young Aria was in the picture. She looked… cute, with her pink dress and the blush on her face. But who was the girl next to her?

"Hey Aria…" Angela started, but when she saw the picture, Aria immediately grabbed it from her meister.

"It's nothing! Forget you saw that!" she shouted, quickly discarding the picture into on of the other bags.

"Aria… is this what was upsetting you earlier?" Angela asked, in unusually serious tone.

But she just sat there, with her face in her hands. Then, Angela noticed the tears leaking through.

"Aria, tell me what happened. Who's the girl in this picture? Your mom? Your friend?"

"_Sorella,_" she whispered.

_Sorella? Is that the girl's name?_

"Sorella?" Angela repeated, confused.

"Sister…"

"Ohhhh," Angela smacked her forehead; she should've known! "So this girl is your sister? What happened to her? Did she…"

"No," Aria said firmly, "Olaun is perfectly fine. It's just that…"

"Just that?"

"I can never match up to her!" she shouted, and Angela could feel the agony in her voice. It made her own heart ache. "Never! She's always Mom and Dad's favourite, she's always the best in _everything!_ No matter what I did, I could never measure up. And I wasn't good enough to be her weapon…"

Angela was completely shocked. It was as though she couldn't move, but she couldn't take her eyes off of her weeping friend. Almost robotically, she took the girl into her arms and hugged her.

"So she picked some other person to be her weapon over her _own sister_?" Angela asked, struggling to control the anger in her voice. Even though she didn't know her, she'd murder _anyone_ who would _dare_ make her weapon cry like this.

"It's not like that…" she murmured, grabbing at Angela's shirt, "When she tried to wield me, it was the same reaction that you and I got yesterday. Except… she didn't want to pick me up again. She didn't want to go near me… ever. Now she doesn't even want to be in the same house as me!"

"Well…" Angela struggled for the right words, (_Your sister's a bitch and she doesn't deserve you_) "It happened to us once, right? If she tried again… then I'm sure she would've been able to use you fine." _Although she shouldn't try now; you're _my_ weapon._

"Well now she has _Jonathan_," Aria said bitterly, "Who has 99 Pre-Kishin Souls in him now. And they only enrolled a year ago!"

"Wait… so they're both 13?"

"No, they joined in late. After the whole incident, Olaun decided to go to the DWMA to find a more 'compatible' weapon partner for herself. She's 16 at the moment."

"Just forget about Ouran or whatever her name is! She obviously doesn't care about you, so why bother wasting time on her? You should forget about her, and tell your parents that you're _not _her, so why do they keep on comparing you to her?"

Aria looked at Angela straight in the eye for a full minute before replying, "I can't do that…" she whispered, "Although I wish I could."

"And why not?" Angela demanded.

But she just shook her head.

"We'll talk about this… later. Can you show me where my room is?"

"Why is everything have to be later? If you procrastinate, you're not gonna get anything accomplished, and you can't just let her torment you like this!" Angela cried, furious at her partner's lacklustre actions.

However, after a heavy silence, Angela got up, and said simply, "Your room is the second one on the left side; the one beside mine." Then, she quickly walked to her room without another word.

When she closed the door, she immediately headed for her bed, and dived under the covers.

"I wish Mifune was here…" Angela muttered, curling up under the covers, "What am I supposed to do…"

* * *

As soon as her meister had left, Aria went to go get the picture frame from her bag. She sighed as she looked at the both of them, so happy, so cheerful, so… carefree. She took the picture with her to her room, but as she walked closer and closer towards the door, the longer the cold chill in the air seemed to last. When she opened the door, a gust of wind flew at her, revealing a standard, bare bedroom. But the window… was shut. Then, she noticed… another note on her desk.

Aria walked swiftly towards it, placing the picture frame down as she snatched the note from the desk.

**WATCH YOUR STEP; YOU DON'T WANT TO FALL OFF THE EDGE, DO YOU?**

Now, there was no doubt in her mind anymore; someone was targeting her. But who… or what could it be?

* * *

**_"Lady Cecilia… I have planted another note for Aria…" _**the servant informed her, serving his mistress more blood to drink.

"Thank you Reginald… how is _that operation_ going along?" Cecilia asked, lapping up the red liquid.

**_"Just as planned… soon… you'll be able to turn back into your true form, my Lady." _**Reginald replied.

"Very good… very good indeed." Cecilia said, finishing up her meal. "Are we almost there?"

**_"Yes, my Lady. Tomorrow we will reach Death City…"_** her servant replied happily [if such a creature could ever say _anything_ happily]

"Very well then. You are dismissed." After Reginald left, she grinned.

"Angela Leon… soon… I'll make you **mine**."

* * *

_A/N: Oh ma gawd the conflicts! What will happen next? Well, you won't find out, because next chapter is a Gale&Jaden centric chapter :D MUHAHAHAHA~ Also: Get the reference of the title chapter, and receive a cookie :3 (AN from May 13th 2011)_

_A/N (October 1st, 2011): . Editing this, I needed to fix a LOT of stuff. Like holy. I missed writing Aria and Angela. Sebby and Claire are fun and all, but you get bored writing the same characters over and over. At least, in the same perspective. So there will be a lot of switching throughout this xD I had to use so many line breaks, because FF is lame and doesn't support astricks and that wavey line thing. This~. :/ I apologize if anyone seems randomly OOC, because well... I think everything I write is OOC, I swear. And the epicly long wait, that was completely, and utterly unnessesary. But what can you do? Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and be prepared leave this alone for the next two chapters, because this isn't getting resolved till chapter eight~  
_


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